Saturday, August 2, 2008

Untamed

I love gardening. I grew up on a sort of farm with a 1/2 acre garden that my brother and sister and I spent many summer mornings weeding. I hated gardening then but somehow I did manage to get the gardening bug and a pretty decent green thumb to boot. My dad and my grandmother are master gardeners, so I think I must have inherited it from them. My kids also love growing things--notice I said GROWING things. They must have inherited my loathing for weeding.

It has been lovely being able to put down roots (pun intended) in one place for such an extended time. We've been here for 7 years, which by military standards, is a life time. Nearly everything in our flower gardens(excluding trees and shrubs) I planted myself when we first arrived here. The kids and I had always wanted to grow things we could eat, but I was reluctant to dig up our backyard for a vegetable garden as we didn't know how long we would be homesteading here. A few years ago, I purchased easy to assemble garden beds and several large planters.

Each season, the children get to plant whatever they like in two garden beds or planters. We've grown sunflowers, zucchini, watermelons, tomatoes, peppers, heirloom plants, flowers of every kind, and several varieties of herbs. This year promises to be a bumper crop, mostly due to the unusual amount of rain we've had. My kids are pretty enthusiastic about planting their gardens, but not so good about caring for them. Meaning, their plants usually do not get nearly enough watering. This summer, nature has taken care of the garden with little interference from us. We have a completely tangled, wild, mess of a garden but we have already been enjoying its bounty.

One of the many tomato plants. I have no idea why the children keep growing tomatoes. I'm the only one in the family that eats them. We don't use chemical fertilizers or pesticides so I eat them right off the vine(the tomatoes, that is).

Karate Kid loves things hot and spicy. She is growing several different types of peppers. These are Habaneros. Habaneros have a heat intensity of 300,000 SHU. I think Karate Kid wants to grow hair on her chest or maybe this is an indicator of what she really thinks of my cooking.

Special K has a completely untamed patch of carrots, tomatoes, 4 o'clocks and Cosmos. My grandmother would love this combination.

Herbs are my favorite thing to grow. These are my basil and thyme plants. Have you ever made your own pesto? It is absolutely delicious!